Insight Programme Review

Insight was extremely enjoyable. There were a good amount of quality sessions, providing plenty of opportunities to learn and develop skills. The opportunity to go into a school was also priceless. It was extremely interesting and fun! However, there was a huge focus on corporate partners, and I would have preferred to spend more time learning how to teach/behavioural techniques etc., rather than just hearing from another huge business.

It is obvious that TF cared about everyone who attended Insight. Everybody was helpful and you are made to feel wanted. It is clear that they want to encourage and hold-on to talented individuals.

Guidance and support was reasonable. However, as usual, some communication was quite poor/late, such as information about the school we were going to. Some of this could not be helped (e.g. Ofsted inspections), but our school had a teachers training day, something which should have been highlighted long before, not something we found out once we were down in Brighton.

I do not believe that the skills we focusses on/developed will help huge hugely during my studies. There were few transferable skills from Insight relevant to my course. However, many of the skills, or ideas that the programme made me think about will be extremely helpful when applying for the LDP and for when I become a teacher.

The insight programme had a good structure too it, with planned breaks and lunches. However, sometimes some of the sessions overran significantly, while others were finished before they should have been. A review of how long each activity needs could be helpful for future programmes. Furthermore, the accommodation was quite far from where the programme was taking place, making the days quite long and tiring, considering how intense the sessions/training was.

The atmosphere was positive and pleasant.

I feel that TF do invest in personal training and development, spending a long period of time making sessions that are focussed on improving personal skills, and making individuals focus on their weaknesses. The programme also helped us to set goals to improve those weaknesses in the future. However, little feedback was given for the end of Insight LDP assessment, which was quite disappointed. I feel TF should have done more for this feedback to encourage myself (who was rejected) to continue of the path of getting an LDP place.

I don't feel Insight gives you a great idea of how it would be to be a member of the TF family. Firstly, most of your time is spent in a school, not in contact with TF. Secondly, all of the special guests were from partner businesses, rather than former LDP participants. All of the former LDP participants were there leading the sessions so couldn't give you an honest assessment of the positive/negatives of the LDP programme.

I feel that Insight did give a good idea of the company culture of Teach First. It is clear that they do care about people involved within the charity, but it also highlighted their weaknesses, such as communication (something highlighted by a former LDP participant at the school I attended), and also their focus on corporate partners over teaching.

I did not feel that the Insight Programme was helpful for myself in deciding my future career path. I was already clear before going on the programme that I wanted to go into education/teaching. Therefore, Insight did little to confirm that this was the path I wanted to follow. (However, it did not scare my off from my career path either). However, I know that the week spent in the school helped a lot of people to decide on their future career path.

Payment, to begin, seemed ample - £500. However, when this is broken down, it does not go very far at all. Once travel to London, the placement school etc have been factored in, and then 2 weeks worth of bought lunches and dinners (as there were no cooking facilities), there is very little money left. Finally, the requirement of 'smart wear', i.e. suits, meant that I ended up spending far more than the £500 I received back.

As far as I remember, there were no opportunities to meet with any LDP participants who were still teachers, which I noted and was astounded with at the time. It would of been beneficial to speak to LDP participants who were still teaching, rather than former LDP participants who left the classroom because it was too hard/they wanted to work for a big corporate business and not teach. There were ample (I felt there were far too many) opportunities to speak to corporate partners.

Most of this is detailed above. Social events appeared to be organised haphazardly, but they were good opportunities to meet other people on the insight.

There were a huge amount of opportunities to find out other schemes that were going on, that we could all get involved with. However, the only problem with the opportunities were that they were either South or London based. That meant that, living up North, there were no other opportunities that we could follow up on and get involved with.

Yes! It was a good opportunity to learn new skills and highlight weaknesses. It was also a good chance to get more involved with Teach First as an organisation, and see what other opportunities and schemes that they have. Finally the best thing about Insight is the opportunity to go into a school, and experience teaching first hand for yourself.